It's up to us.

Please mark your calendars! On July 10 at 6:30 PM the Santa Monica City Council will hear from the public about the Downtown Community Plan. The Plan will determine the way we experience our unique downtown. Will it be vibrant? Will we be able to bike and walk safely? Will there be new jobs and affordable places to live? Will downtown attract the kinds of businesses we support? The decision the Council will make in response to our input will impact and shape our city for the next 15 years.

Santa Monica Forward, a diverse and progressive advocacy group, wants the City Council to deliver a plan that gives our downtown the freedom to change in positive ways. But we’re facing a determined opposition. A small but vocal group wants to stifle the vitality of our downtown, block affordable housing, stand in the way of new, good-paying jobs, and limit tax revenues that fund vital city services. The City Council wants to hear from people like us before they make this important decision. Will you join us on July 10? Will you mobilize your friends and co-workers? Sign our petition here or sign up here to speak, send an email to City Council, or send a short video of your testimony.

Affordable Homes

We're facing a critical shortage of housing, making it more and more expensive to live in our city. The Downtown Plan should make it easier, not harder, to build housing at all affordability levels downtown. Visionary housing developers should have the ability to build exceptional projects near our successful Expo line and in the "Neighborhood Village" area. With your help, our downtown plan can help make this happen. If you agree, we'll help you make your voice heard.

Jobs and City Services

A thriving downtown Santa Monica generates good jobs, new ways to work, and a dependable revenue stream to maintain our city's exceptional city services, including first responders, park maintenance, and schools.

One way to achieve these goals in downtown Santa Monica is to support the creation of taller buildings at a handful of locations. These revenue-generating projects will bring world-class architecture into the heart of our city, with beautiful open spaces and cultural opportunities. They will inject much-needed millions into our local economy and support hundreds of new jobs. If you're in favor of a vibrant and beautful downtown, tell City Council on July 10.

A Sustainable Downtown

A well-planned downtown is a sustainable downtown. Santa Monicans have an opportunity to reduce our carbon footprint and conserve resources by providing efficient new housing, create "complete streets" that serve pedestrians, bicyclists and cars, and bring opportunities for new building technologies and urban planning strategies that will bring downtown Santa Monica into the 21st century. If this makes sense to you, let City Council know.